Lithuanian formin: NATO must respond to Russia's military buildup in region during Zapad

VILNIUS – NATO must respond to an increase in the number of troops on NATO's eastern border during the joint Russian-Belaruian military exercise Zapad, scheduled to take place this fall, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said.

"We will have to monitor and react to all this. Reacting means not only paying other's attention, but also reacting to the increased number of troops in the region. NATO has to mirror the same thing and our message has been repeated many times, to make sure Russia does not create favorable conditions for itself, circumstances for some opportunistic action," Budrys told the public radio LRT on Wednesday.

In his words, the alliance will monitor what number of Russian troops is mobilized for the exercise on the territory of Belarus, and also the actions taken before and during the exercise.

"Based on this, we will be able to draw conclusions as to what Russia is preparing for: to increase interoperability with Belarus, as it did in the past, or to practice certain lessons learned in Ukraine with other forces, to see how to direct it at NATO, or to send a strong message to us, or to get ready for other possible scenarios," the minister said.

According to Budrys, Lithuania and other countries in the region have "attracted the attention of allies" to the fall exercise. Budrys also said that Vilnius and the other Baltic capitals are ready to react immediately to possible provocations, unintentional incidents or other actions.

"Lithuania and the other Baltic states will certainly react immediately to any such situations, we will certainly not spend a few weeks to set up a working group, evaluate it and write some conclusions or recommendations. We will act immediately and we are ready to do so," the foreign minister added.

According to BNS, the Lithuanian armed forces do not see any additional military threats to Lithuania during this year's Zapad exercise, adding that an increased risk of unintentional incidents are the main threat.

For his part, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said in late February that Zapad should not be an additional cause for concern as Lithuania was also training with its allies and preparing for possible threats.

The Lithuanian Army states in its latest overview of the hostile information environment that this year's joint Russian-Belarusian exercise could see a spike in disinformation levels.

The exercise is scheduled to take place in September and has been held every two years since 2009. Its official objectives are to practice joint defensive and offensive actions, to improve cooperation between the armed forces and to test the readiness of the troops for different security scenarios.

However, this exercise raises concern about the risk of unintentional incidents for officials in countries bordering Russia and Belarus.